My research is a feminist-pacifist-queer studies analysis of recent artistic representations of the Northern Irish ‘Troubles’ (1969-98), including work by Steve McQueen, Duncan Campbell, Malcolm Craig Gilbert, Willie Doherty and Stuart Griffiths. The project considers how hegemonic constructions of gender were propagated by Republican, Loyalist and British forces at the beginning of the conflict in order to cultivate a militaristic climate: notions of soldierly self-sacrificial men, defenders of their (female) nation and its women, whose domestic-bound duty involved mothering future fighters.

My work examines how such conservative ideals were shattered by the very consequences of the conflict: men suffered trauma and bodily damage, women became activists and paramilitaries. My study questions whether these shifts in gendered norms contributed to bringing the ‘Troubles’ to an end, and what this might mean for thinking about the relationship between masculinity and war.

Education

Research student, Courtauld Institute of Art (2014-present).

History of Art MA, University College London (2012-13, Distinction).

English and Art History BA, University of Sussex (2009-12, First Class Honours, History of Art Prize).

The Courtauld Institute of Arts presents Doctoral Docs.Northern Irish Masculinities and the legacy of the 'Troubles'. 2005-2015